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I am not sorry for having wrought in common, crude material so much; that is the right American stuff; and perhaps hereafter, when my din is done, if anyone is curious to know what that noise was, it will be found to have proceeded from a small insect which was scraping about on the surface of our life and trying to get into its meaning for the sake of the other insects larger or smaller. That is, such has been my unconscious work; consciously, I was always, as I still am, trying to fashion a piece of literature out of the life next at hand.

— William Dean Howells

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More quotes by William Dean Howells

We live, but a world has passed away
With the years that perished to make us men.

The Mulberries (1871)

What the American public wants is a tragedy with a happy ending.

French Ways and Their Meaning (1919)

The life of Christ, it wasn't only in healing the sick and going about to do good; it was suffering for the sins of others.

If we love mankind, pity them, we even wish to suffer for them.

The wrecks of slavery are fast growing a fungus crop of sentiment.

Their Wedding Journey (1872)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Dean Howells (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.